Method for detecting start of electroless plating

摘要

A method for detecting a start point of electroless plating, which comprises the steps of: immersing a couple of metal electrodes in an electroless plating solution; connecting the metal electrodes to a DC power supply to serve as an anode and a cathode, respectively; applying an electric current across the metal electrodes immediately before immersing an object to be electroless plated in the solution thereby causing metal deposition from the solution at the cathode to activate the same; measuring the potential difference between the activated cathode and the object to be plated; and detecting start of the electroless plating of the object from the measured value of the potential difference between the activated cathode and the object. Also disclosed is an apparatus for carrying out the method of the invention.